Duc in Altum

Just picked up The Practice of the Presence of God off the coffee table the other day, and I opened to the following:

We must believe with certainty that it is both pleasing to God and good for us to sacrifice ourselves for Him. Without this complete submission of our hearts and minds to His will, He cannot work in us to make us perfect.

It struck me as the very essence of the call to holiness. Holy people, saints, understand that it is pleasing to God to serve Him. They love God so much because He has loved them so much that they willingly give everything to Him. They also know that it is good for themselves.

Often we think that our sacrifices for God might be pleasing to Him. Then we wonder just how excited can He get about my choosing to do good and not evil, to be kind and not cruel, or even to do something, rather than nothing. To make an effort toward holiness.

Then there is the business about it being good for me. That can seem very hard to swallow when the sacrifice is great. I suppose that the greatest sacrifice is actually our person, especially all that pride which hides itself under so many forms.

I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercy of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, pleasing unto God, your reasonable service. (Rom. 12:1)